Eton FR400 Hand Crank Radio and Power Generator (Red)

List Price: $80.00 Discount Price: $52.90

Features:

• Hand crank power generator is ideal for emergencies
• Provides you with an emergency siren, water resistant radio, LED lights, and a cell phone charger so you can contact help
• Can receive power from four different sources: built-in rechargeable Ni-MH battery that takes charge from the dynamo crank and an AC adapter; 3 "AA" batteries; the A/C adapter alone or the dynamo crank alone
• Gives you access to NOAA weather channels and TV-VHF channels so you can check the weather or hear important news updates
• Dimensions: 8.6 x 4.5 x 2.0 inches (WxHxD); weighs 1.5 pounds

Customer Reviews:

A Must Have For All Families [Posted on 2008-06-19]
This is really an invaluable life-saving tool. Every family should have one of these around the house regardless of whether or not you go camping.

Highlights
Multiple power sources with standard battery, rechargeable battery, AC outlet, crank.
LED Light-it isn't super bright, but it will get the job done in case your lights go out or you are fumbling for bug spray in the tent.
Siren-It is pretty loud, and will certainly garner the attention of onlookers in case you are in trouble.
It also comes with a coupon which you mail in to get an adapter to run your cell phone in case the battery dies. Once again great for home or camping.
Offers direct communication with the weather channels so there is no fumbling with the tunning dial.

Does what it's supposed to do! [Posted on 2008-06-28]
Pretty cool that you can just crank it up and it'll work. I bought this radio mainly for emergency use when electricity goes out.
I do wish it felt a bit better built but otherwise does what it's supposed to do.

Much of the specifications are exaggeration from the truth [Posted on 2008-06-29]
If the manufacturer didn't lie in the product specification, I would give the radio a 3-star.

As oppose to the manufacturer's specification, this radio:
1) is NOT water proof. This becomes pretty apparent, once you hold a unit in your own hands;
2) does NOT include any cell phone charger connector;
3) does NOT have a really sturdy build. This becomes pretty apparent, once you hold a unit in your own hands.

Also, the FM radio receiver is very crappy. I frankly don't understand why the manufacturer didn't bother to install a decent FM radio receiver, which shouldn't be too much to ask in these days.

This Is A Must Have! [Posted on 2008-07-19]
Bright red, nice carrying case, multiple functions all make this a great emergency device. The hand crank with rechargeable batteries or regular batteries gives you many ways to have lots of power. The weather channel feature, TV channel feature and especially the cell phone charger feature are all must haves. I highly recommend this radio. It is also Red Cross recommended which is a plus. Buy it!

A rugged and proven emergency radio... [Posted on 2008-07-29]
To start with, we received the Eton FR400 Emergency Radio as a gift a few years ago. The antenna had been snapped off (as can happen with any radio of this type), but a quick visit to Eton's website and a replacement was quickly obtained, which is far better customer service than many of its competitors.

Simply put, this radio does everything that's expected. Had occasion to use it earlier this year when we had a power outage that lasted for a little more than 24 hours, and cranking the generator for about 90 seconds resulted in use for about an hour. Haven't had occasion to use its noisy emergency siren or its 1 flashing red LED emergency light, but its 2 white LED flashlight is handy, though one might wish for more light.

When it comes to radio reception, have had occasion to use all of its AM/FM/NOAA/TV1/TV2 (VHF channels 2-13) bands, and reception has been just fine. Have used it on the NOAA weather bands, and the alert function for emergency broadcasts works as expected. Should also mention that the radio is sturdy but very light weight, and only 1 lb 4 oz.

This sturdy emergency radio might not be "waterproof" in the classic sense, but it easily qualifies as an all-weather emergency radio, though I would recommend this only under battery power, and not with an AC adapter!

For those who want to use it as an emergency cell phone charger, check the documentation that came with your radio. You should find instructions on how to obtain the proper tip for your cell phone, or you can contact the company at etoncorp.com and you'll find the directions online... it's that easy. You'll find replacement parts there as well, including NiMH 3.6V rechargeable battery packs (like I need to order) and such.

As far as ruggedness, usability, quality and reception go, this is a 5-star product. However, on February 17, 2009 all full-power broadcast television stations in the US will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and begin broadcasting only in digital. This radio (and most of the others that have TV bands) will not be useful on the TV1 & TV2 bands due to this changeover, so I feel it's only fair to post this as a 4-star rating, with full faith that Eton will come out with a digital product in the future.

But if the TV bands mean nothing to you, then please do consider this to be a 5-star rating.

Others worh considering are the very similar American Red Cross FR400 Emergency Radio, White, which appears to be almost the same. If size is a consideration, then the super-small and full-featured American Red Cross FR150 Microlink Portable Radio or the similar Etón FR150 Microlink Portable Radio are well worth your consideration. If the addition of shortwave receprion is importent to you, the Etón FR500 Solarlink has that, along with an array of encapsulated solar cells that can also run the FR-500.

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